It was found that, during 1974, it cost an average of $8842 ($12,909 in 1979) to care for a survivor of severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) who required mechanical ventilation in this ICU compared to $2448 ($3574 in 1979) for nonsurvivors. Death in 15 out of the 16 nonsurvivors was accompanied by grade III-IV intraventricular hemorrhage. This complication also accounted for moderate to severe neurological impairment in two of the three survivors so affected. The cost of care prorated for life expectancy was $0.42 ($0.61 in 1979) per day of life. These data are compared with similar data generated from adult intensive care patients from the same institution.